


Galeotto was the book

by luffywhatelse



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Book - Freeform, Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist Manga, Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, Dante - Freeform, Ed x Winry, EdxWinry, F/M, Kid Edward Elric, Kid Winry Rockbell, Kids, Romance, edward x winry, fma, kids in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 03:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19782061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luffywhatelse/pseuds/luffywhatelse
Summary: It was a cold winter afternoon. Colder than usual. The result was that two eight-year-olds were literally bored, stuck inside the four walls of Rockbell house."You’re blushing," he said, surprised. And her cheeks blushed more. "And keep blushing.""What do you want, Ed?""You’re always reading this strange story," he said, evading the question."There are no strange stories: stories are stories.""That one seemed to be a story for girls.""Can't I read love stories?""There was a powerful and rich wizard, though. Not a charming guy.""You mean a prince charming.""I know what a stupid prince is, but there wasn’t any in your story. There was a WIZARD!" he went on, "And why do you always read and reread that page instead of going ahead?"





	Galeotto was the book

It was a cold winter afternoon. Colder than usual. Granny had told them not to leave the house because it suddenly started to rain. The result was that two eight-year-olds were literally bored, stuck inside the four walls of Rockbell house.

Sitting on a couch and drinking chocolate, Winry was reading a book. The little girl’s enraptured gaze stopped on some words and a warm smile crossed her lips.

She didn't even notice that someone was crouched next to the armchair, casting a curious gaze on those inked pages that were absorbing the girl's attention making her mysteriously lose interest in everything around her.

It took a few minutes before Winry noticed the intrusive guest peeking through her daydreams without restraint. She closed the book in her hands, put away the chocolate and stared with disappointment at the disturber.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"Do you really have to ask?"

"I’m doing nothing!"

"Beside spying on me and disturbing me."

"I wasn’t doing anything bad. I just wanted to know what you were reading, Gearhead."

"If you wanted to know, you could have asked, Alchemy Freak."

The boy smiled sassy and his hair fluttered up. It was not a full-blown grin but certainly a little smirk.

Winry frowned, unable to figure out Ed's intention: when she was with him, she always happened not to understand. She wanted to understand everything, to translate gestures or usual attitudes, but she was blind in the presence of the most impudent boy she had ever known. And yet, just that shamelessness mixed with a natural charisma was able to arouse her curiosity to the point she wanted to observe him whenever she had the chance.

"You’re blushing," he said, surprised. And her cheeks blushed more. "And keep blushing."

"What do you want, Ed?"

"You’re always reading this strange story," he said, evading the question.

Winry, despite the blush and the strange bubble in which she felt she had been sucked, decided not to give him satisfaction and to prove she could stand up to him, whatever his intent.

"There are no strange stories: stories are stories."

"That one seemed to be a story for girls."

 _How long has he been spying on her?_ "Can't I read love stories?"

"There was a powerful and rich wizard, though. Not a charming guy."

"You mean a prince charming."

"I know what a stupid prince is, but there wasn’t any in your story. There was a wizard!"

"What on earth do you want from me, Ed?"

"There was a wizard," he went on, ignoring her question on purpose.

Winry snorted, knowing her face was still red even if she didn't want to know why. Nor the idea of looking around and find Al, Granny, Den – or anyone else that she could use as a convincing and trivial pretext to slip out of the bubble in which Ed had trapped her – flashed into her head.

"There was a wizard, it's true," now it was a matter of principle, "but the princess isn’t in love with him. The prince will arrive at the end. In fairy tales the prince always arrives at the end. "

"Mh..." for a moment Ed seemed to calm down. But then he started again, "And why do you always read and reread that page instead of going ahead?"

The girl gave up asking him “ _how do you know I always reread it”_ and exclaimed "Because I like it!!"

"And why?"

"Because it's one of my favorite parts, it's magical, I don't know, geez, I like it! Why should I explain it to you?" Despite what she had just said, she took the time to explain, "It’s an important part before the prince arrives and, if I were the princess-..."

"Pfft!" he interrupted her.

"HEY! What are you laughing at?"

"You’re NOT a princess!"

He really wanted to make her mad, "Damn Ed, mind your own business!"

"You’re a fool!"

"YOU are a fool! Stupid stupid fool!"

"You like the wizard, too!" he leaned over the armchair to find himself a few inches from the girl's face.

Winry had her answer ready but she just tightened her lips: that was not a question but a statement. "Honestly, what do you want, Ed?" she asked again.

"The wizard is much cooler than the prince, even if he’s bad."

"But he’s not bad at all!" For a moment, she allowed herself to look properly at his features, realizing that she knew every tiny little inch of him. "He just has a sad story. And in the end he helps the prince."

"Nonsense!" he snapped, "The wizard would never help the prince!"

Winry realized that she knew the deep amber tone of Ed's eyes perfectly, his pert nose, more pronounced than Al's. Even the shape of his small mouth and his hair covering his neck because he had stopped cutting them for a while.

"Let's change this story!" he proposed.

"Do you want to change this fairy tale?"

"The prince conquers the princess but turns out to be a horrible mud monster," so saying, Ed grabbed a vase of flowerpot by the window, and poured the topsoil on the floor.

"What are you doing?!? Granny will get mad!"

"He was holding the princess in a castle enshrouded in mist,” he continued.

"What are you talking about? Look, at the end they get married!" she tried to explain.

"For your information, I'm giving the princess a brain!"

"What makes you think the princess doesn't have a brain?"

"Because if she chooses the prince, she's stupid!"

Winry, dumbfounded, shook her head waving her blond hair. "Are you telling me you're here because you want to give a brain to a non-existent princess ?!"

"Not really, no. I interrupted your boring and useless reading because I'm bored!” And saying this, he laid his hands on the floor and the topsoil began to take shape; now it had two legs, a bust, arms and a head. "It's a horrible troll, can't you see it?"

Winry watched, as always stunned by Ed's ability. She certainly couldn't point to the fact that he was still a beginner.

" _You’re not going to get away with that, you disgusting creature!_ The wizard said and, with great skill, cast a spell on the unfortunate ogre...” he went on with his story.

"Wasn't he a troll?" commented Winry, always admiring Ed's language. That kid really read a lot.

"Shut up, don't interrupt, that’s not important!"

The little girl grinned satisfied that she had made him angry, at least a little.

"... and, in a moment, the troll turned..." Ed put his hands on the floor again and again and light came from his palms, "... to stone!"

The fake little creature made of wet soil had dried up until it hardened; it seemed to be made of gravel. "And the wizard threw him into the lake so that no one could ever see his ugly face again!" A small lake of water had formed around the little monster.

"How did you do Ed ??" Winry asked marveled.

"Tsk. It’s a small thing, I dehydrated it! A small alchemy demonstration," he got up and gave a small kick to what was now a stone figurine, making it end up in small pieces. "Now the princess is free!"

"I'm free now!" the little girl exclaimed, getting up from the couch. She pirouetted in the living room, waving her pink dress like a princess.

"Oh COME ON, WINRY! I told you you're not a princess!"

Winry burst out laughing so heartily and he probably found her laugh so funny and contagious that he couldn't hold a grudge. So Edward laughed too, which gave Winry the opportunity to observe his radiant face, his indomitable hair, his big and bright eyes.  
The girl had no idea why the boy had piqued her curiosity for some time, yet she was well aware of what intrigued her: he had character, a strong personality like no one else; it was challenging and inspiring to spend time with him, _challenging and impossible_ , a combination she hadn't been able to resist and to which she had no intention of giving up.

It was when he saw her relaxing again against the backrest of the couch that he held out his hand to her, this time openly and defiantly grinning.

Winry blushed, and the blush produced by laughter mixed with that of embarrassment. Her eyes widened in amazement and she felt a strange and pleasant tingling all over her body.

It was one of the few times Winry didn't think so much about what to do. The moment she took Ed's hand, he quickly squeezed it firmly, pulling her to her feet and making her hit his breastbone.

She lowered her eyes for a moment, perhaps thinking about turning back, getting away from him, but he wouldn't let her: his curious eyes were fixed on her.

"Let's go play outside, come on, the sun came out!"

Winry nodded.

"Hey you! Where do you two think you're going?" Pinako stopped them. "Who made this mess on the floor?"

Ed stopped but didn’t seem intimidated by Granny's rebuke. After all, that afternoon he got enough satisfaction at being proved right.

Because he knew it well, smart girls always choose the wizard.

_Full many a time our eyes together drew_   
_That reading, and drove the colour from our faces;_   
_But one point only was it that o'ercame us._   
  
_[...] Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it_   
_That day no farther did we read therein._

**Author's Note:**

> “Galeotto was the book” is a reference to Dante’s Divine Comedy - Inferno, Canto V. Dante and Virgilio descend into the second circle of Hell in which are those overcome by lust. Francesca da Rimini tells him how she and her lover, Paolo, read the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere. Moved by their reading, the two kiss. She condemns the text by drawing a parallel between the book and Gallehault (“Galeotto”), the knight in Arthurian legend who encourages Lancelot in his forbidden affair with Guinevere. So she makes the book and its author the culprit for her sin.


End file.
